While there's nothing wrong with those tried-and-true ways to celebrate Valentine's Day, doesn't the day deserve a little more creativity?

The IJ asked readers to share the most unconventional thing they've done — with their sweetie or alone — for Valentine's Day. And share they did.

There's still time to change your V-Day plans; maybe these ideas will inspire you to step out of the heart-shaped box.

A really big surprise

I was wildly in love with Michael. My other love was the ocean. I planned a romantic Valentine's getaway to Kealakekua Bay near where we lived in Hawaii. Upon arriving, I suggested a swim to the opposite shore. When he adamantly refused, I upped the siren's call.

"We could have a romp in the wild over there."

That got his attention.

We dashed into the surf. In my romantic amnesia, I had forgotten that the bay, hundreds of feet deep, can have large creatures enter from the open ocean. Halfway across, I came face-to-face with a 30-foot whale shark, the largest shark in the ocean. As this magnificent leviathan silently glided past me, he then stealthily slid beneath Michael.

With a panic-stricken face, Michael was shaking and gasping. He looked to me as his ticket to safety. I went along with it.

"Stay calm, move slowly."

I liked the role reversal; the petite damsel saves the brawny prince from distress, a scenario never seen in my childhood fairy tales.

When we reached land, there was no romping. Michael refused to ever swim in the ocean with me again. But we did have a whopping Valentine's story to share for years.

— Roselyn Rich Smith, San Rafael

Piecing it together

I took the quotation "I love you more today than yesterday and not as much as tomorrow" and enlarged the words, printed it on nice paper and cut each word separately and attached a chocolate heart to each one.

I hide them around the house and then told my fiance that there was a sweet "surprise" waiting for him at my house, but that he had to find it. I also gave him the clue that there were 13 of them (the number of the words). By the way, when he found all the words he had to figure out the proper quote.

He liked it!

— Anne Comfort, Novato

Dish full of memories

This year, I am "in transit" — preparing to move out of a relationship that hasn't been the easiest and working on my single mom confidence. I am in a place where I really am thinking about my family and friends a lot more than myself and my own sweetheart.

However, this change in me feels really wonderful because I am truly appreciating those who have meant the most to me in my life and not wasting time on people that have made things difficult. Isn't that what love is all about, giving back to those who have been there all along and really have loved us and supported us in the best ways?

My parents were the best team on Valentine's Day when I grew up. Feb. 14 usually happened during a winter vacation on the East Coast, and we would spend a week in a cabin in New Hampshire with friends. My mom always surprised all the kids with chocolates, cards and fun little gifts at the breakfast table the morning of Valentine's Day. Then we would all go out and play in the snow as a group. So, the best Valentine's Days of my childhood always involved family, friends, snow, cards and chocolate.

With this in mind, I have a really unique Valentine's Day gift for my mom, who has a February birthday as well. When I was visiting her for the holidays, she used a lovely silver pedestal dish with blue enamel inside to show off the fudge she had made for guests on Christmas Eve. I don't know exactly why I took such interest in this dish this year, but I asked about it and she told me it was a wedding gift.

I looked it up online and found a matching, vintage, Reed & Barton dish on eBay, but this one has red enamel. I plan to fill it with salted chocolate caramels and send it to her for Valentine's/birthday soon. I know she will be very surprised to see another one of these dishes and, hopefully, it will bring back memories of love from her wedding day too.

— Colleen Proppé, San Rafael

Love takes flight

Though not exactly on Valentine's Day, the most romantic thing we have ever done in Marin was a gorgeous sunset flight over Marin County and the Bay Area in a beautiful, classic seaplane. The most romantic thing about the entire trip — my fiancé, Kevin, proposed to me at the end of our flight!

We began our romantic journey at Seaplane Adventures in Mill Valley. Michael poured us champagne as we walked down the dock to their lovely seaplane, the DeHavilland Beaver. We were escorted on board by our pilot, Aaron Singer, then whisked away in a smooth takeoff from Richardson Bay.

Having grown up in San Francisco all my life, I didn't think I could love the Bay Area more than I already did, but when I saw Marin and the city from a bird's-eye view for the first time, it was just breathtaking and astonishing to think that I was lucky enough to call such a beautiful part of California home.

We came back to Sausalito and the smoothest landing I have ever experienced in an airplane, and the plane glided to a quiet stop back at Seaplane Adventures. It was a glorious trip and, yes, I did say, "I do." It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of our lives and we would recommend it highly as one of the most romantic things you can do in the Bay Area.